10 Super Badass Outdoor Gifts for 2016 [GIFT GUIDE]

TacticalPen

Here’s a question for you: Is it really safe to be completely unarmed in a public place these days?

Lots of our readers would answer this question with a resounding “No.” Yet many of us live or work in places that don’t allow concealed carry firearms, perhaps not even pocketknives to defend ourselve.

Well, we’ve yet to hear of a place, outside of our nation’s penitentiaries, that prohibits the carrying of ink pens. This includes, ahem, carrying them aboard commercial flights.

In short, the MCG Carbide excels in the realm of blurring the lines between weapon and writing utensil, passing through security checkpoints with ease. That’s usually what draws folks to these pens. That may not be the Carbide’s greatest advantage, however.

The greatest advantage of this tool (which also qualifies as a weapon) is that it’s small, sleek, and useful on a daily basis. It’s worth carrying, and thus you probably will carry it all day every day.

Tactical pens also provide that unique element of surprise that reaching for an ankle holster can never provide. This aircraft aluminum writing instrument is equipped with a tungsten steel tip, perfect for smashing through safety glass in an emergency, or plunging deep into an attacker’s eye socket.

One moment, you’re retrieving a pen from your shirt pocket, perhaps to helpfully write down your debit card PIN number, and the next moment, you’re turning the tables on that low down mugger.

On the flip side, this pen really does write like a dream. It’s refillable and on par with many of the executive pens you can find in the glass case at OfficeMax. The main differences are that the Carbide is a fraction of the price and, of course, it can be used to beat the snot out of a dangerous attacker.